Watermelon: The Definition of Summer

I had a bunch of watermelon and blueberries to use up this week, so in addition to cooking main dishes for the week, I made a couple of extra things on the side.  The lineup for this week's meals plus the extras:

• Garden Risotto with Chicken
• Smoked Turkey and Beans with Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
• Balsamic Glazed Salmon
• Mac-n-Weenies
• Mini Blueberry Tarts
• Watermelon Slushes

Garden Risotto with Chicken

The garden risotto isn't actually a risotto--it's made with orzo pasta instead of arborio rice.  The kids ate this up fast, so it's definitely something I'll make again.  It also reheats extremely well.

Start off with a chopped onion and minced garlic cooking in some oil.  Add a couple of cans of condensed chicken broth, 1-3/4 cups of orzo, and some broccoli florets (I used a 16-oz bag of frozen California Veg).  After a few minutes, add about 1-1/2 lb diced chicken breast and a can of whole kernel corn (undrained).  Season with salt and pepper, then stir in some grated Parmesan cheese.

My husband loves to fix a pot of beans every now and then, something that's classically southern, just like he is!  We've found we like to use the 15-bean soup mix because it adds a little variety (and I happen to love butter beans) instead of just plain pinto beans.  We also add a little extra flavor and protein by cooking the beans with a smoked turkey leg and season it up with a little onion powder.  Normally, I throw the pre-soaked beans with the turkey leg in the crockpot in the morning, so we'll have a nice, hot meal by the time we get home in the evening.  If you want to make this a truly southern dish, serve with turnip greens, fried potatoes, cornbread, and a little homemade chow chow relish.  (This condiment deserves its own blog entry, but thanks to a little elbow grease earlier in the year, Hubby and I put up about 14 jars of the glorious golden relish...oh the delicious sweet heat is tantalizing!)

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

It's been a couple of years since I've made it, but since our jalapeno plant is putting off pods, I decided to go with Ina Garten's jalapeno cheddar cornbread recipe.  The only change I made to the recipe was to cut the amount of butter.  I couldn't put 2 whole sticks of butter in a pan of cornbread in good conscience, so I cut it back to just 1 stick and didn't really miss it.

Unfortunately, if the kids got to decide, they'd skip the beans and turkey and just eat the cornbread!  My kids are such carb fiends, it's not even funny.

The balsamic glazed salmon was pretty good, although the boys weren't that interested.  I'm starting to think their palates aren't quite ready for sophisticated ingredients such as balsamic vinegar, so I think I'll shelve this recipe for a while.  But basically, you skillet fry the salmon skin side up, flip after a few minutes, and season with lemon pepper seasoning.  Add a little chicken broth, cover tightly, and braise the salmon for a few minutes.  Remove the salmon and keep warm.  To the pan, add the rest of the can of broth along with a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch and 3 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar.  Reduce the sauce until it thickens and serve salmon with sauce over rice.  Upon reheating, the flavor was fine, but the sauce turned a little jelly-like on me, and heating it up didn't seem to help it along.

Mac-n-Weenies

Something my boys have always liked was a little combo I threw together once upon a time...mac-n-cheese boosted with some cut-up hotdogs and veggies.  It became known as mac-n-weenies in our house, although now I usually make it with kielbasa instead.

When in a time crunch, I've used boxed mac-n-cheese, or sometimes I've used macaroni and added some Velveeta.  This time, however, I had some leftover fontina cheese from a quiche I'd made a couple of weeks ago, and instead of letting it sit around taking up room in my fridge, I decided to make the cheese sauce from scratch.

I started with boiling the pasta and hotdogs together, then threw in some frozen broccoli florets a few minutes into the cooking.  In another pot, I made a simple roux, melting a tablespoon of butter and adding a few tablespoons of flour.  I added the freshly-grated fontina cheese with some freshly-ground black pepper and some milk to thin it out.  I also added some shredded sharp cheddar to the mix.  (By this time, the cheese sauce was getting pretty darn tasty!)  I also added some salt-free garlic herb seasoning and a little whole grain mustard to the cheese sauce...gives a little extra "pep" to the dish without going overboard.  Mix in the pasta, meat, and broccoli, and stir to coat.  Et voila!  A hearty meal that also happens to reheat really well that the kids just LOVE!

Razzy Jazzy Berry Tarts

I don't usually take the time to make desserts, unless it's for a special occasion.  But since I had all these blueberries I needed to use up, I found this recipe for Razzy Jazzy Berry Tarts in the most recent issue of Taste of Home magazine.

This is so simple to make.  The little cups taste a lot like shortbread, and since you don't add any sugar to it, it helps balance out the sweetness of whatever fillings you care to use.  I'm thinking of all kinds of possibilities with this now!

Anyway, the tarts were absolutely delicious, even though I didn't take the time to make the little stars and stripes out of additional dough to go on the tops.  I tried using powdered sugar, but the moisture from the filling made that a mere exercise in futility.  Still, they were very good.

The last thing I made (although actually it was the first thing I made because then I was sipping on it while cooking the other dishes) was the Watermelon Slush.  There are lots of versions out there for similar drinks, some with alcohol, some with mint, some with lime, and some with lemon-lime soda.  To give you an idea, check out this recipe on allrecipes.com for Watermelon Agua Fresca.  I didn't have any mint leaves, so I had to skip that, but my recipe was just watermelon chunks, sugar, lime juice, and ice cubes, all in the blender.  Admittedly, the ice cubes have a tendency to water down the final product, so next time I'm going to try making it with frozen chunks of watermelon instead.  I might even add some pink lemonade mix to it (the powder, not the actual drink) and see how that goes.  But be careful with that if adding the lime juice on top of it--you don't want something so tart, it's undrinkable!

So that's what I've been up to.  And once again, we near the end of another week.  More recipes next time, but until then, friends, happy cooking!  :)

Comfort Food is Chicken and Dumplings!

On the back of the 4th of July weekend, my menu plans for the week ahead were admittedly a little bit screwy.  We had leftovers, we had people visiting, and we had dinners in restaurants that may or may not have been planned ahead of time.

That's a sure fire way to mess up your routine, let's just say!

However, this past week we saw a few oldies but goodies and a couple of new recipes.  Here's what I fixed:

• Shrimp Fried Rice
• Cheese Tortellini, Spinach, and Meatball Soup
• Baingan Bharta (a.k.a. Eggplant Curry)
• Classic Chicken and Dumplings

The shrimp fried rice recipe came from Allrecipes.com, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite recipe websites.  I like the fact that you can read a lot of reviews and see how people may have changed things up, before you try it for yourself.

I ended up using an entire bag of bean sprouts in my recipe, which meant I had to increase the soy sauce to get it closer to the flavor I wanted.  I also added a little allspice to it, some cut-up baby corn, and sliced fresh mushrooms.  While I felt it lacked a little something in the flavor department, my kids DEVOURED it!  I found that a little sweet chili sauce helps to liven up the dish nicely, too.  If I make it again (and it looks like I'm gonna have to), I will increase the amount of shrimp, given the proportion of shrimp to the rest of the ingredients, and increase the number of eggs from 2 to 3.  Also, I think I will cook my eggs separately and add them in at the end, rather than coating the rice with the egg mixture, which is not something I'm used to.

Next up was the cheese tortellini soup.  This is something I threw together a while back, and my oldest boy told me it was a "keeper."  Basically, start with 2 packets of Savory Garlic and Herb soup mix.  Dump that in your pot and add about 3 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add in a bag of frozen cheese tortellini and about 1 pound of Italian-style frozen meatballs.  Return to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.  Taste the soup and season as necessary with salt and pepper (though we tend to leave salt out as much as possible).  Now add about 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves and stir, just giving it long enough to wilt the spinach.  Ta-da!  Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese and, if you choose, hot garlic bread.  Oh, so good!

The baingan bharta (eggplant curry) turned out to be a flop for my 5-year-old, but I loved it!  I tried to get him to taste a spoonful, at which time he informed me that he didn't actually like eggplant.  (NOW he tells me?!)  This is not entirely true, however, because he eats it up willingly when presented in lasagna form.  Anyway, no problem, just means more for myself.  It was way too spicy for the 2-year-old critic, so I didn't even bother giving it to him.  My photo here doesn't really do it justice...I took it with my cell phone, and the camera is--in technological terms--virtually obsolete.

I started with 1 medium and 2 small eggplants that I bought from the farmers' market, and roasted them in the oven as described in the recipe.  The recipe, although not entirely authentic in method, produces a good flavor and nice spice.  For this attempt, I simply scooped and scraped the soft eggplant out of the skins after they had cooled, but I would recommend actually chopping up the flesh with a knife, on account of the somewhat stringy and fibrous texture that eggplant usually has.  I used a jalapeno picked from our own garden, and it's a good thing I removed the seeds and veins because it still gave the dish a lot of heat.  Serve this over rice or with pita bread.

Last, but definitely not least, is my chicken and dumplings.  I like to use chicken thighs on the bone because dark meat imparts so much flavor to the dish.  But feel free to use breast meat, if that's what you prefer.  Here's my recipe, which I've put together after numerous attempts (mostly FAILED attempts) at making this classic comfort food.

Nabela's Chicken and Dumplings
(Serves 4)

• 3-4 large chicken thighs, bone in, skin intact (if using frozen chicken, no need to thaw)
• 1 chicken stock cube
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 3 Tbsp corn starch
• 8 oz frozen peas and carrots
• 1 can refrigerated biscuits (10 small or 6 jumbo)

1. In a large, heavy pot, add the chicken thighs and enough water to completely cover.  Add chicken stock cube.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from broth.  When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skins and bones.  Shred remaining chicken meat into small pieces.
3. Taste broth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Dissolve cornstarch in milk or cream and add to broth.  Return broth to a boil.  Add peas and carrots and chicken meat.  Reduce heat to medium.
5. Using fingers, pinch off small pieces of biscuit dough and roll into balls.  (For my kids, I make the dumplings about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter, since they will plump up after cooking.)  Drop gently into broth.  Cover tightly and reduce heat further to medium-low.  Allow to simmer undisturbed for about 15 minutes until dumplings are cooked through.  Do not stir dumplings!  Serve and enjoy!

It's Friday already, so I'm going to have to go off and plan out what I'm cooking this weekend for next week.  Seems like the weeks are going by faster these days, doesn't it?  Anyway, I hope some of this was useful to you.

Until next week, happy cooking!  :)

Welcome!

I like to cook.  I won't call myself a chef or toot my own horn about being a whiz in the kitchen by any means, but I do like to prepare meals for my family.  I love that satisfaction you get from serving something the kids (and husband) like.  It's like an accomplishment, like making a good grade on a paper you worked your tail off for, and it actually paid off!

My problem is my schedule.  I work about an hour from home, and with my husband being on the road a lot, it's hard to get a home-cooked meal on the table without a little forethought and a whole lot of planning!

That's where the idea for this blog comes in.

On Fridays (and sometimes Saturdays), I will sit down with the weekly paper and go through the grocery store sales.  This gives me an idea of what's being offered at a good price, and what's in season this time of the year.  Buying strawberries in the summer when they're actually IN SEASON means they're going to taste much better than the ones grown in greenhouses year round, when strawberries aren't supposed to be available.  The other thing I like to do is browse at the farmers' market.  The prices can often be higher at the FM (at least in my experience), but sometimes you'll come across a good deal, and any time I can work vegetables into a dish that my youngest boy will eat (since vegetables seem to be against his religion or something) is like a feather in my cap.

So anyway, I plan my menus accordingly, and then I shop.  The next day, I'll cook, and I mean for the whole week.  That way, when the kids and I come home in the evenings, it's only a matter of minutes to get a home-cooked meal from the fridge to the table.  I'm also saving money because we're not relying on fast food and drive-thrus to get food into my kids, which I don't like the idea of anyway.

Not all recipes reheat well.  I've learned this the hard way.  But sometimes, you'll come across a recipe that does well both in the fridge and the freezer, and those types of recipes are what this blog is all about.  I hope to share what I find are successful--or not--and build my recipe repertoire to use in the years to come.

Since my kids are nowhere near old enough to cook, I guess it's just gonna be up to me for now!  LOL

Feel free to leave a comment on any of my posts.  I like to hear what people think about recipes and food, and perhaps even share a tip or two that works for you!  This is going to be a work in progress, but by all means jump in and participate!  There's room in my kitchen for a few extra cooks.  :)

Happy cooking, fellow "Foodies"!!